4 years ago, my wife and I were living in Chicago and we heard about a friend’s experience living in Kenya. We both immediately felt compelled and overwhelmed with curiosity. Could we do something like that also? I came to Kenya to scout it out. A mutual friend, Mark, urged me on, “Tony, you’ve got to meet Ken Oloo! He’s like the Kenyan version of you!”
Immediately, Ken and I hit it off. As we drove around looking at schools and ministries in Nairobi, we talked about everything from being married to strong, awesome women to American politics to effective storytelling to Kenyan culture. But our conversations were always the most impassioned when we talked about the space where social impact and for-profit business intersected. It’s this space where profit, people and purpose are all so intermingled that you can no longer separate the stew.
2 years later, I found myself living in Kijabe, Kenya with my family.
As I’ve gotten to know Ken, I’ve come to realize a great irony. Ken loves the power of story and so easily sees the stories around him. But, he’s shy to consider the story that’s going on within him. So, allow me to tell you a story.
Ken has been dreaming about Rununu, or some version of it, for the better part of the last decade.
Though he is best known for his work to empowering poor youth at Filamujuani (Ken is an Acumen Fellow!), Ken’s love for story starts in Eastleigh in the 1980s.
As a kid surrounded by violence and corruption, he could have easily been sucked right into the cycle. One day, with his dad’s camera in hand, 9-year-old Ken found the power of the lens. He could focus on the aspects of the community he liked. He could frame his shots to draw out the people he cared about the most. Behind that lens, he could imagine a reality better than the one he was living. He could live a different story by telling it through a lens.
Fast forward 15 years, Ken has graduated college using funds from his wedding photography business. He’d already quit his corporate communication job in Uganda after an eye-opening experience with poverty there. And no surprise, he’s living right by the Kibera slum, showing kids how to reframe their reality with a simple lens. These kids’ eyes –and hearts –learn how to blur out the noise in the background so that the main thing pops out.
Now armed with a talented team he’s trained, Ken desires to expand the impact and enters into the interesting waters of social enterprise. He starts to do marketing/storytelling for corporates – banks, big consulting firms, and other media companies. Former youth from the slums are now account managers and producers working on 20 million Ksh contracts. Things are looking up.
And yet, a nagging feeling remains. There are still so many stories to tell. There are still so many worlds to open up to the world. There are still so many young people who hope for a better story.
Call it ambition or a dream or an unscratched itch. It is here that Rununu is born. Why not build a platform where a whole generation of Africans can tell the stories most important to them?
In the midst of late-night shoots, early morning editing, and a newborn at home, Ken gets a chance to sit down with me two weeks ago. We laughed at our mutual friend’s characterization of me being the Chinese-American version of Ken. (I’m way better looking). We envision the day that Rununu is finally launched. That day is today.
As we finish our chat, Ken shares his life mantra: “to work with others to live out their stories.” Within this is the heart and soul of Rununu. Join us.
Download the Rununu app at the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. Or Log on at rununu.tv.